David A. Lemmink

Hi all,

Just thought I would catch you up on today’s happenings.  It was a busy day and David is progressing and getting stronger.

This morning after he had breakfast, Ty, his nurse asked if he would like a sponge bath.  He said sure, so they got him up and sat him in the chair.  No easy feat when you’ve just had major surgery and still are feeling weak.  But they did.  It took two big guys because David still really needed the support.  The got him in the chair and let him sit for a few minutes.  Then Ty proceeded to just give him a modified bath.  His face and arms and torso.  She got a new gown on him and was talking about calling the guys back in to help him back into bed.  Unfortunately, we were unprepared for the next event:  his stomach decided sitting in a chair was not what it wanted.  GLURB!  As I said we were not prepared, so Ty had to clean up his legs and feet.  She told him, “If you wanted your feet cleaned, you could have just told me.” haha   Carol told me the first time she got up following one of her surgeries, the same thing happened to her.  Maybe it’s a family thing!  🙂

He got cleaned up and back in bed, and proceeded to take a nap.  A couple of hours later, Ty came back in and suggested that David get up and walk a bit in the hallway.  He was game, so we all got him out of bed, with all the tubes and this and that and out we went into the hall.  He did great!  Went as far as he could and then back and into bed.  Following that journey, he slept for a good 3 hours.  Whew!  It’s tiring work!  Tuckered him right out.

After his nap, he had quite a bit of awake time.  Time chatting with John, his mom, and me.  In between, he would doze, and then wake up.  A whole lot of healing going on!

Tonight, following a light dinner of chicken noodle soup, cottage cheese and pineapple, the new nurse, Kelly came in and asked him if he would like to go out into the hallway for a walk.  Again, David was game.  He knows the more he can accomplish, the faster we will get home.  So, up he got and out we went.  This time he went twice as far.  YAY!

He is now sleeping.  Good thing.  We will still be woken in the night, but hopefully not quite as often as last night.

All in all today was a positive day.  He got noticeably stronger as the day progressed.  I look forward to more of the same tomorrow, all with the intent of getting strong enough to head HOME!

Thank you for your kind words, prayers of support and love.

Love, Connie